Isaiah 19:16

16 On that day Egypt will be like women trembling with fear, because ADONAI-Tzva'ot is shaking his fist at them.

Isaiah 19:16 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 19:16

In that day shall Egypt be like unto women
Weak and feeble, as the Targum; fearful and timorous, even their military force; and devoid of wisdom, even their princes and nobles: and it shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the
hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shaketh over it:
which the Lord may be said to do, when he lifts up his rod, and holds it over a people, and threatens them with ruin and destruction; perhaps this may refer to what was done in Judea by Sennacherib's army, which was an intimation to the Egyptians that their turn was next; and if the shaking of the Lord's hand over a people is so terrible, what must the weight of it be? Some think there is an allusion to Moses's shaking his rod over the Red sea when the Egyptians were drowned, in which the hand or power of the Lord was so visibly seen, and which now might be called to mind. Ben Melech observes, that when one man calls to another, he waves his hand to him to come to him; so here it is as if the Lord waved with his hand to the enemy to come and fight against Egypt, which caused fear and dread.

Isaiah 19:16 In-Context

14 ADONAI has mixed up their minds with a spirit that distorts judgment, so they make Egypt stagger in whatever she does, like a drunk staggering in his vomit.

15 Nobody in Egypt will find work to do - neither head nor tail, neither [tall] palm frond nor [lowly] reed.

16 On that day Egypt will be like women trembling with fear, because ADONAI-Tzva'ot is shaking his fist at them.

17 Just mentioning the land of Y'hudah to the Egyptians will throw them into panic; they will be afraid because of what ADONAI-Tzva'ot has planned for them.

18 On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Kena'an and swear loyalty to ADONAI-Tzva'ot; one of them will be called the City of Destruction.